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The Cult of the Virgin Mary in Early Modern Germany

What happened to the fervent Marian piety of the late Middle Ages during Germany’s Reformation and Counter-Reformation? It has been widely assumed that Mary disappeared from Protestant devotional life and subsequently became a figurehead for the Catholic Church’s campaign of religious reconquest. This book presents a more finely nuanced account of the Virgin’s significance. In many Lutheran territories Marian liturgy and images – from magnificent altarpieces to simple paintings and prints – survived, though their meaning was transformed. In Catholic areas baroque art and piety flourished, but the militant Virgin associated with the Counter-Reformation did not always dominate religious devotion. Traditional manifestations of Marian veneration persisted, despite the post-Tridentine church’s attempts to dictate a uniform style of religious life. This book demonstrates that local context played a key role in shaping Marian piety, and explores the significance of this diversity of Marian practice for women’s and men’s experiences of religious change.

BRIDGET HEAL is Lecturer in Early Modern History and Director of the Institute for Reformation Studies at the University of St Andrews.

Past and Present Publications

General Editors: LYNDAL ROPER, University of Oxford, and CHRIS WICKHAM, University of Oxford

Past and Present Publications comprise books similar in character to the articles in the journal Past and Present. Whether the volumes in the series are collections of essays – some previously published, others new studies – or monographs, they encompass a wide variety of scholarly and original works primarily concerned with social, economic and cultural changes, and their causes and consequences. They will appeal to both specialists and non-specialists and will endeavour to communicate the results of historical and allied research in the most readable and lively form.

For a list of the titles in Past and Present Publications, see end of book.

This publication is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provisions of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press.

First published 2007

Printed in the United Kingdom at the University Press, Cambridge

A catalogue record for this publication is available from the British Library

ISBN 978-0-521-87103-7 hardback

Cambridge University Press has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Acknowledgments

This book grew out of my PhD thesis, undertaken at the University of London. The project was first conceived under the guidance of Bob Scribner (1941–1998), and Lyndal Roper’s brilliant supervision enabled me to bring it to fruition. Susan Foister and Susie Nash also provided essential encouragement and advice during my time as a graduate student. When it came to turning the PhD into a book, the comments of my examiners, Ulinka Rublack and Joseph Koerner, were invaluable, as was the institutional support of Newnham College, Cambridge. Since then I have been in St Andrews and Bruce Gordon and Andrew Pettegree have provided help and inspiration. I am grateful in particular for Bruce’s stimulating comments on drafts of this book. Thank you also to Bettina Bildhauer and Christine Linton, who helped out with various language problems.

The research for this book was undertaken with the financial support of a number of institutions: the Associated Humanities Research Board, the Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst, Newnham College, Cambridge, the British Academy, the Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland and the University of St Andrews. During my time in Germany many people provided help and guidance. In Nuremberg I wish to thank the staff of the Stadtarchiv, Staatsarchiv and Landeskirchliches Archiv. In Augsburg my thanks are due above all to the Stammtisch crowd. Helmut Zäh, Hans-Jörg Kunast, Benedict Mauer and Georg Feurer all generously provided me with information without which the local archives would have remained impenetrable. Moreover their hospitality made me feel at home. Rolph Kießling also offered valuable encouragement and advice. In Cologne Joachim Deeters and his staff made working in the Historisches Archiv a great pleasure. I am indebted to Klaus Militzer for his generosity in directing my inquiries. Thank you also to the staff of the Erzbistums Archiv, in particular Josef van Eltern, and to Gerd Schwerhoff who provided useful pointers for tackling Cologne’s criminal records.

For enabling the book to appear in its final form I wish to thank Lyndal Roper, Michael Watson and the editorial board of Past and Present Publications. I also wish to thank all those who helped with the task of assembling and paying for illustrations and permissions: Helmut Zäh, Frank Müller, Nina Rewizorska and Lorna Harris. On a more personal level, my thanks are due firstly to my parents, Felicity Heal, Geoff Heal and Clive Holmes, for all their support. Stefan Brunner’s incomparable hospitality and Duane Corpis’s friendship made my extended stay in Germany a joy, and while I was there the Hahn family generously gave me a home. Above all, I wish to thank my husband, Guy Rowlands, for his emotional and practical support throughout the writing of this book and for his intellectual advice, which has broadened my historical horizons.